Aqueous copolymer dispersions that contain vinyl chloride units, vinyl acetate units and ethylene units are known and described in German Published Application (DOS) Nos. 21 19 549 and 22 52 285, corresponding to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,639,326 and 3,830,761 respectively. To obtain stable dispersions from these monomers, it was hitherto always necessary to take special steps regarding the protective colloid/emulsifier system. Further, it was often absolutely necessary to adhere to critical amounts of ionic or, alternatively, nonionic emulsifiers. Not only did these special colloid stabilization systems comprising emulsifiers, protective colloids and auxiliary monomers have to be reproducibly adhered to under relatively complicated industrial conditions, but sometimes they also had disadvantageous effects in various uses of the dispersions, such as, for example, in adhesives or concrete additives. Adhesives containing emulsifiers or auxiliary stabilizing monomers generally have a relatively low water-resistance. Older applications, such as, for example, DBP (German Patent) 968,141 describe the production of thermostable polymers or copolymers of vinyl chloride. It is, of course, emphasized therein as being specific to the invention that the polymerization may on no account be carried out until the monomers, vinyl chloride and/or vinyl acetate, are substantially consumed.